Flight
by sailorraven34
Summary: Vanessa, Raven, Otto and Laura are being held at the Glasshouse while another more powerful enemy attacks from outside. Vanessa needs to find a way to fight against them, before she's turned into her mother...
1. Something Nutty

**Okay, this is the fourth Vanessa story. I recommend reading Vanessa, In Deep Water and the Rise of the Chicken before reading this one. Otherwise, it may make less sense. **

**Not that it makes sense in the first place, or anything. **

I landed hard, with a soft thump. I looked around, but no one seemed to have heard me. Then again, there was almost no one there.  
I pulled my mum's grappler off my wrist and shoved it into my brand-new combat boot. I'd asked Anastasia to please make sure they were three sizes too big, and she'd obliged. And I'd informed her flat-out that if I didn't have my ninja jacket, she could forget about me cooperating.

Not that I was cooperating anyway, or anything. I'd flat-out refused to kill anyone. But Raven was probably going to teach me this stuff anyway, so why not learn it a bit earlier?

That logic is completely flawed.

Shut up, Laura.

Anyway. I walked silently along the catwalk. It was cold, and I shivered. Why did stupid evil people always have to build their stupid greenhouses in weird places? A volcano? In the middle of The Most Freezing Place On Earth? Why not Italy or something? Then we could threaten each other with pizza. Ah… possibilities.

I reached the end and squatted down, looking down at the stupid greenhouse- okay, it was more of a warehouse, but since I'd recently learned that the place I'd been living in was called the glasshouse, so it was only fitting I called everything in it green houses. It just seemed fitting.

The door I needed to get to was at the end of the greenhouse, and was guarded by two men. Easy peasy. All I needed to do was get there. I jumped off the catwalk and landed on a stack of crates below. Did I mention I landed _silently_? Even RAVEN can't get me to do that. Amazing how motivated you are when your performance equals how much food you get.

I climbed down the crate pile on the side facing away from the men. This was too easy. Something nutty was going to happen. (Past 'something nutties' include cats falling from the ceiling, an explosion or five, trapdoors, waterslides, and having to chase Pietor Furan in a circle for ten minutes straight. I think I may have brought the last one upon myself though.)

_What the heck? _ I thought, and slowly crept forward towards the two guys.

Something very sharp hit my shoulder. I made a strange noise and fell on my butt.

"You should have looked around to see if anyone was following you." Anastasia said, appearing out of nowhere.

"I _did._" I told her.

"Look _harder_."

"I did that too." I pulled the dart from my shoulder. "And did I mention how annoying it is to get repeatedly hit in this shoulder? I mean, this is like the thirtieth time-"

"Enough." Anastasia ordered. "Come with me."

"Are we going to do the stupid thingies again?" I asked as I hurried to catch up with her. "Because those are really annoying. And I don't see what applications dodge ball has in real life. "

Her mouth was a thin line, as usual. "I said be quiet."

"Because if it is, I like to wear different shoes when I do that, so it would have been nice if you'd told me ahead of time."

"STOP. TALKING."

"Yes, sir."

"And don't call me that." She looked at me. "You have a mission."

"In Italy?"

"_If you shut up and come with me, I'll tell you_." she growled.

"Okay." I said. "But if we do go to Italy, can I have allowance? You know, so I can buy pizza along the- Ow!"

"I told you to stop talking." Anastasia hissed.

"I heard you, I'm just- Ow! Okay! Okay!"

I wonder if she knew she was the only adult who could make me stop talking.

I hoped she didn't. I didn't want her to think she could control me. Because there is no way she'd ever make me kill someone.

Except, you know. If she offered me a million dollars in candy. Then I might consider it.


	2. An annoying brick wall

"_Pietor, wake up!"_

_It was Zoey. Her nose and cheeks were red from the bitter cold. _

"_What's going on?" Bastille stirred next to him. _

"_I can't find Ana!" Zoey yelled._

"_Shh." Furan told her. "I'm getting up." He did so, careful not to disturb Mark or Vanessa. _

_He ducked into the hallway and ran straight into a small boy in battered green pajamas. "Watch it, shorty." He snarled. _

"_Be nice!" Zoey scolded. She helped the boy to his feet. "Sorry about him, he lost his brain."_

"_Zoey…" Furan said warningly. _

"_Okay, it short circuited." Zoey amended. "Just ignore him anyway. I'm Zoey, and you are…?"_

" _Max Nero." _

"_Max. Well, come on, Max. We need to go find my sister."_

"_But… we're not supposed to be out in the halls…" Max trailed off._

"_A) no one pays attention to that rule, B) _you_ are out in the halls, you genius." Zoey said. _

"_I'm no good with rules." Max said. _

"_Me neither." Zoey admitted. _

"_This is very entertaining, but can we _please_ go find Anastasia?" Furan asked._

"_Ah, yeah. Right." Zoey scratched her nose. "Er…"_

"_Let's try going this way." Max said, pointing left._

"_Exactly what I was going to say!" Zoey grabbed Max's hand (the boy looked a little startled) and ran off in that direction, pausing to yell "Hurry up!"_

"Why are you sleeping in the middle of the hallway?" Anastasia asked him.

"I'm not." Furan told her. "I'm just thinking."

She had Raven's brat with her. Furan didn't understand why she would want to train _that_. It was like purposely ramming your head into a brick wall… an _annoying_ brick wall…

"Right. Well, stop thinking and move, please. We need to brief Vanessa."

"Why can't we do it here?" Furan asked.

Anastasia glared at him.

"Right." Furan said. "I'm moving, I'm moving…"


	3. The blowing-things-up stratagy

Nero watched her leave. "You've watched her?"

"Yes." Raven said. "She doesn't seem to have retained any of her original personality. Or if she has, she's hiding it very well."

"Well, keep doing it." Nero said. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't fuss."

"I'm not fussing, I'm just asking-"

"We both know exactly what you're doing, and I wish you would stop." Raven snapped.

"I just don't want you to die again." Nero said quietly. "I think that's a fair request."

"I'll consider it, then." Raven snarled.

"Please stop biting my head off, Natalya." Nero sighed.

"I'm not biting your head off!" Raven yelled. "Leave me alone, will you?"

"You're the one who started this conversation in the first place." Nero pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I'm done with it now!" Raven growled, and stalked off.

She went back to her and Nero's room and sat down. Why did he have to be so overprotective of her? She could look after herself! She thought she'd proved that enough times…

_But it wasn't enough that one time,_ part of her reminded her.

_That was out of my control. I was hurt… and he's the one who actually shot me in the first place! _

That settled it. Raven stood up. She was going to do the retrieval tomorrow- and show Max she could take care of herself.

###

Alex found Laura sitting at the foot of his bed when he returned to his room. Her daughter, Guinevere, was sitting on her lap.

"Laura!" Alex spluttered. Even though he was officially going out with Kat, he still liked her. He noticed her red eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"It's Otto," Laura said. Her voice shook. "He's dead."

"Oh, jeez." Alex sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "That must suck."

Laura tried to speak, but ended up crying. She buried her face in Alex's shoulder and sobbed for a while. Then she composed herself and sat up straight.

"Nero says… I should come back here and stay." She said. "For my protection. So… I just wanted to say hi."

"Hi." Alex said.

Laura smiled for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by a sad expression. "See you around, Alex." She said, and left.


	4. No more waffles

Lucy got to her feet. She'd fallen out of bed, again. She snuck a look at Laura in the bunk beneath her. Either she was sleeping, or she'd managed to knock herself unconscious. There really was no difference, at this point.

She felt sorry for Laura. She didn't deserve this. Neither did Lucy. If only Vanessa or Otto would hurry up and kill Overlord, then they could go back to H.I.V.E., where she could wow everyone with her tales of epic heroism, and then maybe Laura would survive. Right now, it did not look like that would happen. They were still stuck here. The only difference was, after Overlord's order, the girls had been moved to a different room. Lucy didn't really understand that. Wasn't Otto supposed to take care of Laura? Not her? Not fair. Not fair at all.

And this stupid room was boring, without someone to talk to. She sat on the floor and fantasized about escaping. Which was stupid. Even if they could get out of this room, they still had to get out of the base. And that seemed impossible. Not if all three of them- well, there'd be four soon… plus Vanessa and Raven- not if they all wanted to come. And Lucy couldn't think of any reason why anyone wouldn't want to leave this place.

Unless you were a Furan. But that didn't count.

She heard someone stir. That would be Laura. She turned around and said "You awake?"

"Smmmtttrgggmuffin." Laura said.

"How are you feeling?"

"Finrf." Laura rolled onto her side and buried her face in her pillow.

It was very difficult to get English out of her these days. Especially in the mornings. Lucy sighed, and did a cartwheel. She fell over again, which was extremely painful on the hard cement floor.

"Whatcha doing?" Laura asked, removing herself from the pillow.

"Messing around." Lucy heard a noise and looked at the door, where their food had just been pushed in. Waffles. Every day, for every meal, waffles. She was so beyond sick of waffles…

She slid one of hers to Laura's plate, like she did every day, and walked over. "Here" she said, passing them to Laura.

"Thanks." Laura said unenthusiastically. She picked at one halfheartedly.

"Dude, you're pregnant. You have to eat."

"Shut up." said Laura, and she buried her face in the pillow again.

"Ug." Lucy muttered, "Fine. Starve. I don't care." She stalked off to the other corner, which was as far away from Laura as she could get.

_What did I do to deserve this?_


	5. Anastasia does not like musicals

Otto stared at the wall, wondering what Gabby was doing. She'd probably be... almost done with whatever class she had before lunch. He imagined her next to him, and what he'd say to her.  
_I didn't want too,_ he thought. _But Overlord ordered me to either have a child with Laura, or with Lucy, and because I didn't want us all to die, and I didn't want Lucy to kill me, I picked Laura, and I think it must have worked because I got taken away...  
_He hoped Laura was all right. If she died because of this, he'd never be able to forgive himself.  
He still liked Laura... but he liked Gabby too... and Vanessa, but he knew he could never be with her. It was all so confusing- he didn't want anyone to be hurt, but he could only pick one...  
The door opened, and then shut. Otto looked up and saw Overlord.  
"Just passing through." he said. He pressed his finger to Otto's forehead, and everything went black.

###

All right, I guess I need to explain. But I'm doing the short version. I'm not going to do the long one _for the third time_.

Me: Vanessa Montov, Raven's fourteen year old daughter

Lucy: Lucia Presscott, very bossy girl with powers

Mark: My dad who Raven killed

Max: My 16 month old half brother

Jacob: Max's dad, currently locked up with Raven

Cherry: Raven's sister, currently taking orders form Overlord because of… something.

Zoey: the Furan's little sister, who Pietor killed.

Madelynn: Girl we met in Furan's base. Can see future.

Vanessa Winters: my aunt. Alive, but no one knows where she is.

Kaito: I don't really know, but he scares the Furans.

Rae: Kaito's assistant who he rescued. Wants revenge on Raven. Has a scar on her cheek.

Bastille: Mark and Vanessa's mom.

Shaesta: Bastille's sister who loves Pietor.

I think we're good now.

Anyway, Anastasia and Furan dragged me to this dinky little conference room. I sat down on one of the chairs.

"You know." I said thoughtfully. "the one thing that could make this awesomer is to make it a musical."

Anastasia blinked at me.

"You know." I continued. "You just keep doing what you're doing, but every couple of minutes we just randomly burst into song, and start tap-dancing."

"No." Anastasia said firmly.


	6. WHY does Otto smell so good? Why?

"Are you _sure_?" I asked.

"Very." Anastasia said.

"Okay, so what's the mission? And does it involve killing anyone?"

"No." Anastasia said. "You just need to escort a person here."

"Ah." I said. "In sixth grade I was an usher for the school orchestra concert, is that the same thing as an escorter?"

"No." said Anastasia.

"Right." I said. "Just checking. 'Cause they both sort of sound the same, and you never know-"

"Why do you talk so much?" Furan growled at me.

"_Que pasa_?" I asked, completely befuddled.

"Why do you talk so much?" he repeated. "And say such ridiculous things?" His lip curled. "Is it because underneath your shell you've built up, you're so pathetically weak that you can't stand to have anyone see how _worthless _you really are?"

"Er…" I said, scratching my head. (Well, what would you have said? Yes?)

"Pietor." Anastasia said sharply. "Why don't you go and take a walk?"

Grumbling, he got up and left.

"So… who am I escorting?" I asked.

"A man named Joshua Blau." Anastasia flushed.

"You like him."

"No I don't! Not since… I was your age."

"Ah…" I said. "You should talk to my friend Shelby."

"I don't need to talk to your friend Shelby." Anastasia snarled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Fine, fine, fine." I sighed.

The door opened, and Otto entered.

"Otto!" My face got hot. "H-hi!"

Anastasia smirked. For some reason, she seemed to think something was very funny. BUT THERE IS NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT ME LIKING OTTO!

NOTHING!

"Mr. Malpense is going to be coming with you." she said.

Otto said down next to me.

"Your shoulder." he said, touching the cut gently. "What happened? Was it from training?"

Now, if I had been thinking straight, I would have wondered _How did Otto know I was being trained if I hadn't seen him for a year? _Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking straight. I was thinking about how nice Otto smelled. Like soap… mmm….

I should shut up now.

"Yeah." I shrugged. "Just a scratch."

"Good."

"So where are we going?" I said, blushing furiously.

"Oh, yes." Anastasia yawned. "Your old school."


	7. Furan takes a walk

"_Hey!"_

_Furan looked up and caught a glimpse of a turquoise colored jacket before someone jumped on him, hitting him with a flurry of punches. He shoved his attacker- a girl Anastasia's age with dark hair and cold blue eyes- off of him, smirking. _

"_You honestly expected that to hurt? You're like a little raven- peck, peck, peck."_

"_Shut up, jerkface." The girl snarled, getting to her feet. The bright colored jacket she wore was several sizes too big, and stained. _

"_Jerkface? I don't think anyone's called me that since the third grade."_

"_Then it's about time someone did." She moved so fast he didn't see the blow coming until it knocked him backwards. _

"_What's your problem?" he snarled. _

"_You hurt Bartholomew." She hissed, sweeping his legs out from underneath him. The girl pinned him to the ground. "I don't like it when people send my boyfriend to the hospital." She flicked her wrist and a knife appeared in her hand. _

"_So you're going to kill me." Furan said calmly._

"_No." the girl scoffed. "I don't kill people. Not like your sister."_

"_My sister-"_

"_Don't lie to me, I was on the streets years before I got here, I know who she is." The girl tilted her head for a moment, then slashed across Furan's chest. "Don't cross me again." she said, standing up._

"_Who are you?" he yelled as she walked away._

"_Montov!" she yelled. "Now go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and leave me in peace!"_

_Then she was gone. _

"Pietor, why don't you go and take a walk?" Furan mimicked as he stomped through the hallway. "I don't understand what she sees in that girl- it's just Natalya all over again."

He considered for a moment. "Although Natalya does have a brain."

She was here, somewhere. He should go and find her, and maybe make him fight her. That always made him feel better.

###

Rae sat on the edge of her bed, seemingly lost in thought, but when Kaito opened the door she whipped around, ready to fight.

"Oh." She said. "Is something the matter?"

"I need you to go and kill someone for me." said Kaito. "And you'll need this."

He handed her a knife made of a dark metal.

"I don't need this." Rae said calmly.

"Yes you do. It's made of a special metal. Regular weapons won't hurt this man."

"Okay." Rae stood up. "Who is the target?"

"He is the principal of a small secondary school in London. His name is Joshua Blau."

"When do I leave?"

"Now. The Furans are also after him. It is essential you reach him first and that you do not allow yourself to be captured, do you understand? You know what to do if you are."

Rae's hand went to her pocket, where the poisoned needle rested. "Of course I do."

"Good." Kaito kissed her cheek. "Go, then."

As Rae left the room, she found herself blushing a little. She knew that love was a weakness, but that's not what this was.

What it was, she didn't know.


	8. Revenge

Raven landed hard but jumped back up on her feet. "Why are you here?" she asked Furan. "I'm going to die tomorrow. What more do you want?"

"Shut up and fight me." Furan snarled.

Raven crossed her arms. "I don't want to. Leave me alone, please."

Furan curled his lip. "What did you name your sons? Dimitri and Tolya? Are you still hanging on to past promises?"

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked, scowling.

"The you-vs-Anastasia vendetta. That's getting very annoying."

"That's not a promise, that's _revenge_." Raven informed him. "I believe you are familiar with the term?"

_He pulled Merrin to her feet. Her eyes were wild and full of pain. _

"_She's coming." she gasped. "I have to- Max." She pressed her baby daughter into his arms. "You have to get Natalya to Max, do you understand? I know we aren't the best of friends, but this couldn't be more important."_

"_I promise." Furan said. _

_Then he shot her in the head. _

_Merrin gasped and fell. Furan dropped her daughter beside her, then turned and walked away._

"Um… hello?" Raven said, blinking at him.

_I should have just killed her. I would have, too, if I'd known what she would have become. But I had to go and give her a chance of survival, didn't I?_

He gave Raven one more glare and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. He was halfway down the corridor before he realized there was someone walking by his side.

"Pietor?" Bastille's voice trembled. "We need to talk- Pietor?" She looked really scared. "Is something wrong?"

He shot her in the chest.

"That won't kill me," Bastille gasped as she slid to the floor. "it's only steel…"

"No." Furan smiled. "Ana made some upgrades."

He turned and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" Bastille called, her voice weak.

"To go find your sister and her friends." He laughed. "Don't worry- you won't be separated for long…"

Bastille's eyes opened wide, and she started to say something, but before she could get the words out, she gasped once and was still.


	9. AHHH! THERE'S TWO OF THEM!

Raven sat down on the edge of her and Jacob's bed. Jacob sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"What'd Furan want?" he asked.

"I think he just wanted to yell at someone." Raven shrugged. "I'm not quite sure _Furan _knows what Furan's doing at the moment."

"Are you hurt?"

"Maybe a few bruises. But I'm okay."

"Good." Jacob stood up and started pacing again. He had told Raven about the dying-in-one-year part of the deal, but not the part that involved giving up their children. She thought that their twin sons were going to die with them, and he wasn't eager to correct her. Even though she'd become more human since Mark's death, she was still Raven.

"Can you stop that, please?" Raven asked. She was staring up at the ceiling. "You're making me dizzy."

"I apologize." Jacob said stiffly.

"Jacob, it will be okay." Raven said, standing up and resting her head on his shoulder. "It's time. It was going to happen sooner or later…"

"So you're okay with dying?" Jacob snarled. "You're just going to give up?"

Raven smiled.

"I'm already as good as dead, Jacob…"

###

I grinned at Otto. "This is sooo exciting!" I said, bouncing in my seat.

"You're sitting in a chair, waiting for Anastasia to find you a coat." Otto said. _"How _is that exciting, exactly?"  
"Because I get to go on a mission with you!" I squealed. "AND I get to kidnap my principal!"

"I guess that is exciting." Otto said, putting his arm around my shoulders. My face got hot. _Ohmygod_.

"Are you okay?" Otto asked.

"Meep." I said.

"Ah." Said Otto. Very wise of him.

###

Otto woke up with a splitting headache.

_Stupid Overlord._ He sat up. _Something_ had happened… he just wasn't sure what.

Otto sighed and went back to sleep.


	10. Shaesta's escape

Shaesta ran. The branches scratched at her face, appearing out of the darkness like claws. She could hear Pietor behind her.

_This has happened before. But I was chasing him, and Zoey was with me. _

_He's still a coward, thought._

She splashed through a creek, then turned sharply. She had no time to erase her tracks. She only had time to run. And she didn't know if that would be enough. Pietor was older and stronger…

_That's all I am. A little girl very, very far away from home._

She tripped, landing in the mud. She stood up and staggered a few steps forward, then stopping. The trail crumbled off into nothing in front of her, leaving a gap too far for her to jump. She gritted her teeth. Fine, then. If it's a fight he wanted, a fight he'd get.

She slipped behind a tree and pulled two things from the pocket of her long black coat- a small gold charm shaped like a scythe and a piece of paper on which was sketched a door. She'd have to time this perfectly for it to work. Shaesta took a deep breath, listening to Furan crash through the forest behind her. He was getting closer.

She saw him burst out of the trees, stopping short of the cliff. "Where are you?" he called. "Come on out, Winters… I promise it will be quick-"

Shaesta leapt from her hiding place and onto his back, latching her arms around his neck and stabbing upward with the scythe. A howl of pain told her she'd found her target. She threw the paper into the gap, muttering under her breath, then slid off Pietor. She got a glance of his face- his good eye was bleeding badly. Shaesta grabbed his arm and spun him into the gap.

She heard a yell, but no crash, just a quiet breeze that ruffled her hair. She looked down and saw only the piece of paper, the image of the door now gone. Good. She was safe- for now.

But her sister was dead. Bastille, Mae Caard, Hayannah Grenworthy, Evangeline Blau, Selene Von Trapp and Lune Grasse were all gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Having fun?"

Shaesta whipped around and screamed, taking an involuntary step backwards.

"The Door is traceable, you know." Kaito said. He reached forward and grabbed her arm. "You should never trust something given to you by a known enemy."

"I know." Shaesta snarled. "I had to get rid of Pietor, thought." Her grip tightened on the scythe. If she broke it, Kaito would die. But she would also lose her life…

"What do you have there?" Kaito tore it from her hand. "Oh, my. Naughty, naughty…" He tossed it into the chasm. "Now come with me."

He snapped his fingers and they vanished.


	11. We are sent to the principal's office

I stared at the steps leading up to my old school. It hadn't changed much- brick building, two stories high. Stone steps leading up to the front door. General air of neglect.

"You know, it kind of makes sense that my principal is in league with the Furans and Overlord." I said thoughtfully. "He did seem sort of evil. Well, eviler then most principals."

"Not all principals are evil." Otto told me.

"Dr. Nero is." I pointed out.

"He runs a school for villains." Otto said. "It's kind of a given."

"Good point."

A woman in a black coat with a hood that hid her face pushed past us. She looked sort of familiar.

"We should probably, you know, go in." Otto pointed out. "Instead of standing here all day."

"Ah." I blinked. "Right."

It was just after school had started, so the halls were empty, except for a few stragglers.

"Should I be worried that you know the way to the principal's office this well?" Otto asked me.

I said nothing.

The secretary, Miss Breed, who as far as I could tell never moved from her desk, looked up at me and said. "Oh, my, is that Vanessa Murrow?"

"Montov." I corrected. "And we, er, need to see the principal."

"All right." She said. "Go and sit down, he'll be with you in a moment."

The woman in the black coat was also there. She was tapping her foot impatiently. I got a glimpse of her face and swallowed back a gasp. It was a mask of burns and scars. She caught me looking and darted away, but for a moment I saw recognition and anger in her eyes.

"Mr. Blau will see you now." Miss Breed said. We stood up and entered the office. I sat down in the chair in front of his desk, feeling like I was in trouble.

"Um." I said. (Always a good way to begin. I'm pretty sure every memorable speech began with an um, but people omitted it out to make the speech makers sound better in history books.). "Anastasia Furan sent us? We're supposed to… Otto, what are we supposed to do again?"

"Bring him back."

"Right, we're supposed to bring you back." I said.

He looked at me for the first time. I could sort of understand why Anastasia had blushed. He seemed like he had been good looking when he was younger, but now he was like sixty. "Is that Vanessa?"

I sighed. "Yes, I-"

The black-raincoated woman burst through the door. She had a gun in her hand.

I stood up. "What are you-"

Then she shot me.


	12. Bad Rae

The girl yelled and fell off the chair. Rae watched her, anger filling her. The imposter had taken Vanessa from her. She could not to anything to her, but she could take it out on the girl.

The boy stood up, his image flickering for a moment, changing into a man. Rae gritted her teeth. Overlord. She aimed at Mr. Blau, but the girl stood up and took a step forward. "I really, really, really don't like it when people shoot me in the shoulder." She said, pulling a sword from her boot. (What?)

"Oh, so you're going to fight me?" Rae laughed.

"Yeah!" the girl said. She launched herself at Rae, but Rae pushed her aside and fired at Mr. Blau. The bullet hit him in the head, and he slumped forward.

Rae started for the door, but Vanessa was in her way. She obviously had _some_ training. She aimed a blow at Rae's head, but Rae dodged it, and swept the girl's legs out from under he with a careful kick.

Rae stepped out the door and was closing it when the girl popped up again. She grabbed Rae's arm. "You're going nowhere! I'm going to get you, Miss… Person!"

"This is not a game, you idiot." Rae snarled. "This is a matter of life and death, and I don't have time for a child's silliness."

The girl's eyes filled with rage. "I'm not a _child_." She growled.

Then everything went black.

###

Madelynn jumped to her feet.

Gabby blinked at her, from where she was doing her homework at the desk. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Madelynn said, rubbing her forehead. "Just… an idea."

"Why can you see things?" Gabby asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The future, I mean."

"I wasn't…. well, I was created. For some reason. So was my brother. I physically don't have parents."

"Weird." Gabby said. "Who created you?"

"I don't know."

"Why?"

"I don't know that either."

"Well, what was your idea?"

"We need to be on high alert. Something's going to happen."

"What? Wait, let me guess- you don't know."

"I do." Madelynn said huffily.

"What, then?"

"Something bad." Madelynn muttered.

"Thanks." Gabby rolled her eyes. "That clears that up."


	13. Anastasia says too much

Rae woke shivering. The girl with the green eyes, Vanessa sat next to her.

"Hi." She said. "What's your name? My name is Vanessa. Why did you kill my principal? Did you go to school there too? If so, I can sort of see why you'd want to kill him. He gave me a detention for snickering at his mustache once. But it really did look like a rat died on his face-"

"Stop it!" Rae screamed. "Stop _talking_!"

"Why?"

_Because you look like her, you sound like her and it makes me want to kill something._ Rae thought. _The idiot girl who stole my life because Anastasia Furan told her to._

But allowed, she only said "You're giving me a headache."

"Oh." The girl frowned. "Sorry. I don't mean to do that. It just kind of happened. Like when Otto was-"

"I said no talking." Rae snapped. "Where are we?"

The girl said nothing.

"_You can answer my question_." Rae snarled.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, we're in the Glasshouse, which is not a greenhouse, and-"

"What?!" It got hard to breath. "We… I…. She…"

"That… was that a question?"

"Where is Raven?"

"My mom?"

Rae felt a burst of anger. She wanted to tear her apart, and Anastasia, and the whole world.

"Yes." She said through gritted teeth.

"Um. Well, she's there too."

"Anastasia's servant?" Rae spat.

"… no." Vanessa said. She frowned. "You know… you look a lot like her-"

Rae wanted to scream. Well, she wanted to scream even more then she usually did. She was done with this stupid conversation. She stuck her hand in her pocket- but the needle was gone.

"Yeah." Vanessa said, smirking. "We took away your little thingy."

Great.

"So where is Anastasia?" she asked.

"I don't know." The girl admitted. "But her brother is really easy to annoy. If you meet her, just do something to her dress. She's touchy about her dre-"

"I KNOW!" Rae exploded. She jumped up and ran. She didn't know where she was running to, but someone grabbed her wrist.

"Back again?" Anastasia sneered. "You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

Rae screamed, a combination of rage and fear and grief for the life she could have had. When she'd run out of breath, she was on the ground, her hands locked around her ears.

Anastasia hauled her up.

"Stop acting childish." She snarled.

_I never got a childhood, thanks to you and Pietor…_

"I hear you've been hanging around with Kaito." Anastasia said.

"He promised me he would let me have revenge." Rae said quietly.

"Yeah, that's what he said to me too." Anastasia snarled. "And I believed him. And then the next thing I knew, I'd killed my own mother and I was his lab rat."

"What?"

Anastasia flushed. Rae could tell she had said too much. "Nothing." she said.

Vanessa popped up out of nowhere. "I-"

Anastasia punched her in the jaw. "You failed." She snarled.

"I-"

"Silence!" Anastasia yelled. She pulled out some sort of communicator. "Bring Raven and Jacob to me. I can't wait any longer to show you who's in charge."


	14. Shaesta and Bastille

_"Hello?" whispered a gentle voice. "Umm... we need you to wake up?"  
Furan was completely surrounded in darkness, and then there was the voice. It was a nice voice, and it made him want to wake up. He struggled against the darkness, but it wouldn't let him go...  
"Oh, let me try." said another voice, this one sharper. "OI! BOY-WHO-I-DON'T-KNOW-BUT-IS-KIND-OF-CUTE-AND-MY-SISTER-ALREADY-HAS-A-CRUSH-ON-"(he could hear the gentle voice protesting loudly at this)"-YOU NEED TO WAKE UP, BECAUSE YOUR SISTER IS HURT, AND YOU'VE BEEN CAPTURED BY AN EVIL SCIENTEST GUY-"  
"Shaesta, I said wake him up, not tell him the history of the modern world-"  
"I ain't gonna do that, that puts people to sleep 'stead of waking 'em up!"  
"No need to shout." Furan sat up, rubbing his ears. The second girl, Shasta or whatever it was had one heck of a set of lungs, he'd give her that.  
The two figures came into focus. The one on the left was a few years older than Zoey. Her hair was so blond it could only be classified as white. Her eyes were a startling blue-violet, and narrowed like a hawk's. She wore a simple black blouse and skirt, her hair pulled back in a messy, spikey pony tail. He noticed there was a battered piece of turquoise fabric pinned to the hem of her skirt. Her clothes were ripped and torn, and there was a bruise on her cheek.  
The girl next to her was obviously her sister. They shared the same face and pale skin, but this girl's hair was dark and neatly braided and coiled at the back of her head. Her eyes were bright green and kind. She wore the same clothes as her sister, but hers were immaculate, and she had no turquoise fabric. She smiled at him. "I'm Bastille." Her voice was quiet, with an accent he couldn't place.  
"Pietor." He sat up. He was in what looked like a very old, battered hotel room, lying on the bed. Someone was next to him. He turned and saw it was Anastasia, her face milk-white and covered in sweat.  
Furan's brain struggled to fit together what was going on. "Ana... was shot."  
"Yeah." The other girl scratched her head. "Tillie- um, Bastille did what she could, but she's sick." She yawned loudly. "I'm Shaesta, by the way. And my sister thinks your-"  
Bastille clapped a hand over her mouth and grimaced at him.  
"I have a little sister, too." Furan said. "Well, I have two, but..."  
He glanced at Anastasia again.  
"Don't worry." Bastille said, sensing his thoughts. "She'll be fine." She bit her lip. "Well, she'll be alive..."_

###

Furan opened his eyes. But nothing happened. He sat up, raising a hand to his face. "What in the-"  
"She blinded you." said a voice that sounded a lot- too much- like Zoey's. "The girl you went after."  
"Shaesta?"  
"I don't know her name." There was the sound of someone standing up. "It's Rubee, by the way. Your-"  
"Your name is Svetlana and you will use it." Furan snarled.  
There was silence for a moment. He knew Cherry was fighting against her curse. Finally, she muttered a yes.  
"Anastasia wants you to stay here." she said. "She'll come talk to you later." The sound of footsteps faded, and he was alone again, back in the darkness.


	15. A powerful secret

"What do you mean?" I spluttered. "I know you're in charge!"

"That's not good enough for her." The woman smiled. "She has to prove that she can kill your family and friends and destroy everything you care about." She crossed her arms. "Right, Ana?"

Anastasia hit her across the face. "Silence." She spat. "You know nothing, traitor."

"Are you calling me a traitor to you?" the woman said. "Becasuse that would imply that I agreed with you in the first place, and I sure as hell don't."

I was starting to like this lady.

Anastasia opened and closed her mouth a few times, then decided to shut it.

"You're going to tell her?" the woman asked. "About me and her and what you did to us?"

"That's a powerful secret, I do not intend to reveal it foolishly."

"I hardly think it's foolish to tell the girl she's been lied to since-"

Anastasia slammed her gun into the woman's head, and she fell unconscious.

"What did you do that for?" I asked.

"I do not intend to reveal that secret now." Anastasia repeated.

"Who is she?"

"She is an operative who worked for me until she betrayed me. She was imprisoned, but she escaped last year. I think she calls herself Rae." Anastasia sighed. "She will have to be killed, she is very dangerous."

"What did she mean?" I asked. "About me being lied too?"

Anastasia shifted uncomfortably. I knew she was hiding something.

"She was talking about you being raised apart from your mother." She said. "That is all. She is a little behind the times."

"Ah." I said. But I knew she was lying.

The door opened, and Cherry entered. Only she looked different from the last time I had seen her, a year ago. Her hair was straightened and cut short. She wore an expensive looking dress and looked… well, like Anastasia.

"Yes?" she asked, bowing her head ever so slightly.

"Get Raven and Jacob for me." Anastasia said. "They are to be executed now."


	16. Forgotten

"_I am dangerous."_

"_I know." Nero said. The girl stood in front of him, but she had no face._

"_Too dangerous." She made a sound, like she was crying. "That is why you must forget." _

_She reached out and touched his forehead with her red-gloved finger…_

###

_The rain dripped down Shaesta's face, forcing blood into her eyes. Angrily, she wiped it away. She felt strangely calm. Pietor's secret was out in the open. No more hiding, no more going behind her sister's back. All she had to do was kill him._

_Pietor grinned at her. "Wanna dance?"_

_Shaesta gripped her sword. "Why?"_

"_Because no one ever cares." Pietor growled. "No one would care if we died right now. No one ever bothered to look for us when we vanished. Everyone thinks they can do whatever they want with us because we haven't got a family-"_

"_I HAVE A FAMILY!" Shaesta screamed. _

"_What? No you don't. Your mother was killed, and your father doesn't want you-"_

"_NO, I HAVE ONE, AND IT"S FALLING APART IN FRONT OF MY EYES!" Shaesta wiped her eyes again, this time to get rid of the tears filling them. "You don't know _anything…_"_

"_Are you sure I am the stupid one?" Pietor smirked. "Or is it you?"_

###

Cherry opened the door to Raven's cell.

"I am here to take you to your execution." She said stiffly. "Do not try to resist."

Raven stood up. "Cherry? What is going on?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Cherry said. "And my name is Svetlana."

"So you use his name now." Raven stood up. "You traitor."

"It is not _his_ name." Cherry said. "It is the name my parents gave me."

"No!" yelled Raven. "You have to-"

"Natalya." Jacob put a hand on her shoulder. "She can't fight it. She has to obey what she is told."

"Why?" Raven asked.

"I told you." Jacob said. "Don't you remember? When we got to H.I.V.E. the first time?"

Raven blinked. "Oh, yes." She said. "How silly of me."


	17. Reunion

When Otto woke up the next time, he was in Laura and Lucy's cell, on the floor.

"Hi." Said Lucy, who was eating a waffle.

Otto blinked. "You are eating waffles."

"No." said Lucy. "I am eating _a_ waffle."

"Right." Otto said. "How's Laura?"

"Annoying." Lucy informed him. "She's asleep."

"Should I… wake her up?"

"Yes." Lucy said. "Although she will probably hug you."

"… is that a bad thing?"

"That depends on whether or not you enjoy the sensation of being run over by a steam roller." Lucy said.

"Ah." said Otto. He stood up and went over to the bunk in the corner. He shook Laura's shoulder. She didn't move.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nope." said Lucy. "To get her to wake up, you have to do this…" She stuck her face in Laura's. "OI! BRAND! WAKE UP! YOUR BOYFRIEND'S HERE!"

Laura opened her eyes. Lucy got out of the way, and she saw Otto.

"OTTTTTTTTO!" Laura yelled, grabbed him and hugging him.

Otto frowned at Lucy. "Not a _steamroller_." He frowned. "Possibly a truck, though."

"I'm so glad you're back." Laura said, letting go of him but taking his hand. "I missed you sooooo bad."

"Yes, and you complained about it to me." Lucy said. "_Loudly_."

"Are you okay?" Otto asked her. He noticed how exhausted she looked, her eyes red from crying.

"Fine." Laura smiled.

"If you two are going to kiss, leave me out of it." Lucy said, backing away.

Otto and Laura both blushed.

"Do you know how much longer?" he asked.

"Um… four months." Laura said.

"I'll be there." Otto promised. He hesitated only a second before kissing her cheek.


	18. Zoey and Max

_He couldn't sleep. He stood up and left the room silently. Well, he tried. Anastasia heard him though, and sat up. She followed him out into the hallway._

"_What's going on?"_

"_I just felt like walking." Furan snarled. "Is that okay with you?"_

"_Yeah." Anastasia fell into step beside him. "You know any place quiet?"_

"_It's all quiet, this time of night." Furan said. _

"_KYAAAAAA!"_

_Both of them whipped around when they heard the scream. "Very quiet." Anastasia said dryly. _

"_I think… I think that's Zoey." Furan said. He started off in the other direction._

"_What?" Anastasia spluttered. "We're doing this _again_? Look, I thought we'd learned that Zoey can take care of herself-"_

_But he was already out of earshot. Anastasia sighed, then dashed after._

_They found Zoey pretty fast. The screaming helped._

"_What the hell is going on?" Furan snarled._

_Zoey was standing in the courtyard, her hands covered in blood. She looked shaken. "Scarlett." She whispered. _

"_What?" Furan yelled. "What in the name of cheese does that mean?"_

"_Scarlett?" said a voice. Furan turned and saw that annoying Max guy. "Zoey, what happened? I told you I was going for help!"_

"_They took her away, Max!" Zoey sobbed. She threw herself into his arms. "I tried to stop them-"_

"_WHAT IS GOING ON!?" Anastasia bellowed. _

"_Max and Scarlett and I were out here, and then something happened to Scarlett, and Max went for help, and then Kaito's minions came and took her away!" Zoey spluttered. _

"_IS ANYONE GOING TO BOTHER TELLING ME WHO SCARLETT-"_

"_Scarlett is my sister." Max said. "She's eighteen. She was looking for me and then her baby started coming, and-"_

"_I KNOW THE REST! WHAT WERE YOU AND ZOEY DOING OUT HER IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"_

"_Well, if you _must _know." said Zoey. "We were discussing pizza."_

"_Pizza?" Furan said._

"_Yes, pizza." Zoey said. _

"_Not- kissing, or anything."_

"_No!" spluttered Zoey, going completely red. So did Max._

"_Well, good." Said Furan, trying to salvage the situation. "Er… why don't we all go back to bed-"_

"_NO!" yelled Zoey and Max at the same time._

"_Fine, fine, fine." Furan rubbed his head. "We'll go find Merrin."_

"_Merrin Montov?" Anastasia asked. _

"_She's the only one who can deal with Kaito on an even footing." Zoey was already running. "Come ON!"_

"_I am going to regret this." Furan muttered. _


	19. Farm animals that start with Q

_Furan was right. After they found Merrin, it took them just a few minutes to get Scarlett back. Unfortunately, then Furan had to carry her back to his room. He set her down on Zoey's empty bed, and then woke up Bastille._

"_Squirrels." She said, sitting up._

"_What?"_

"_Squirrels." Bastille repeated. She shook her head. "Er… never mind. What's wrong?"_

_Furan quickly explained. _

"_What can I do?" Bastille asked. "I don't know anything about this kind of thing."_

"_Ahhh…" Furan rubbed his forehead. "I'd forgotten."_

_Bastille smirked. "I can do my best, though." she said. _

_Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. Scarlett was dead before morning. _

_Zoey put her arm around Max. "I'm sorry." she whispered. He leaned over and kissed her._

"_WHAT THE F-" Furan yelled._

"_Pietor." Bastille said, pointing to where Vanessa, Mark, and Scarlett's son, Jacob were sleeping._

"…_FRONT DOOR WAS THAT!?" Furan yelled. _

"_Um, a kiss?" Zoey said sarcastically. "What did it look like to you?"_

"_WHY THE HEL-" Bastille glared at him again. "…HELICOPTERS DID HE DO THAT?!"_

"_Maybe because we're _going out._" Zoey said, looking at him like he was nuts._

_Furan let out a loud mixture of swearwords and various household objects. _

"_Pietor." said Bastille, her voice dangerously calm._

"_I KNOW!" Furan yelled at her. _

"_She's 14, Pietor, butt out." Anastasia said, before burying her head in her pillow. _

"_Yes…" Shaesta yawned. "Let her sort all the farm animal…even the ones that start with q…"_

_Furan blinked, then decided to disregard that statement due to the fact that Shaesta was half asleep. "Well…. you…"_

"_Can we sleep now?" Zoey said, rolling her eyes._

"_NO!" yelled Furan. "NOT UNTIL HE LEAVES!" He pointed to Max. _

"_What, he has to walk _all the way_ back to his room? Why can't he just stay here?" Zoey snapped. "He can share with me- I don't care-"_

"_I'm sure you don't." Furan growled. _

"_Pietor, can we just…" Anastasia let out a huge yawn. "go to sleep?"_

"_FINE!" Furan yelled. "Max, you can have Zoey's bed! Zoey, go share with Anastasia!"_

"_What?!" Anastasia spluttered. "She ALWAYS steals all the blanket!"_

"_FINE! ZOEY, COME OVER HERE AND SLEEP WITH ME!"_

"_Mmmm…. quesadillas…" Shaesta mumbled, rolling over. _


	20. Betrayed

"_NO!" Zoey yelled. "Pietor- _what are you doing_?!"_

_She looked from Bastille, lying in a pool of blood, to Mark, Serenity and Vanessa in Furan's arms. _

"_Leaving." Furan said. "I'm done with this foolishness. Anastasia and I are out of here."_

_Zoey started to cry. That was a little odd for her; usually she hid at least her sadness. "YOU CAAAAN'T!" she wailed. _

"_Yes I can." Furan said. He started to walk away. _

"_You can't go!" Zoey yelled. "PLEASE!"_

"_Why?" Furan snarled. "What possible reason could you ever have?"_

"_I'm pregnant." Zoey hissed at him._

_Furan laughed out loud. "You are a fool. So is Max. You'll both die for this. You know Kaito's forbidden it." He shrugged. "If Max isn't dead already…"_

_Zoey froze. "What did you do to him?" she whispered. _

"_Nothing that will be fatal, if you get there soon enough." Furan smirked. _

_Zoey's face went white. She spun on her heels and started running._

"_I HOPE YOU MAKE IT IN TIME!" Furan yelled. "OTHERWISE, THEY'LL BE NO ONE AROUND TO PROTECT YOU!"_

_He smirked and started to climb over the wall. He was home free._

_That was when Shaesta dropped out of the sky. _

###

Cherry reached the room quickly. She put her hand on the door, but Jacob said "Wait."

She turned around and looked at him.

"Svetlana…" Jacob whispered. "Why are you doing this?"

Cherry blinked, and for a moment something flickered in her expression. "Ja…cob?" she asked.

"Yes." Jacob said, grabbing her shoulders. "Come on- you can fight this."

Cherry's hand twitched a little. Then she brought it up sharply, slamming her fist into his jaw.


	21. Playtime

Cherry and Jacob had both been trained since a young age, like Raven, and it was an even match as they struggled in the hall.

"Tally!" Jacob gasped. "A little help here?"

He dodged a punch and lunged at his sister, grabbing at her hair.

"I would love to hit you." Raven said sarcastically. "Unfortunately, I have my arms full of babies at the moment." She pointed to her two sons to demonstrate. "And speaking of which, I-"

"PUT THEM DOWN THEN!" Jacob yelled, as Cherry slammed him into the wall.

"If I do, they'll scream." Raven said.

Jacob kneed Cherry in the stomach and darted out of her reach. "You're- OOF!- enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Me?" Raven hoisted an unconvincing look of innocent surprise onto her face. "Of course not."

Cherry drew a knife from her belt and ran at Jacob, launching a kick at him. Jacob ducked, but not fast enough. Her foot hit his shoulder, knocking him backward, and the knife bit into his arm, leaving a shallow cut.

"As entertaining as this is…" Raven took a step forward. "play time is over now, children." And she kicked Cherry squarely in the back, sending her tumbling forward and hitting the stone with a crack.

Mark flashed though her head. Quickly, she knelt down and checked for a pulse. There was one. She sighed.

"Okay, let's move." Jacob said. He rubbed his shoulder. "_Why_ couldn't you have done that sooner?"

Raven ignored the question. "You're rusty. Want to spar later?"

"FIVE MINUTES AGO YOU WERE COMPLAINING-" Jacob paused mid-lecture as Raven fell to the ground, gasping like a fish out of water. "Tally!"

"Going somewhere?" Anastasia said, glaring at him from a few feet away.

"What did you do to her?" Jacob demanded.

"Get her and get in here." The door behind her opened. Jacob took Dimitri and Tolya from Raven's arms and pulled her to her feet.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." Raven said. She rubbed her head. "Just… headache."

"That bad?"

"Shut up."


	22. We battle to the secret

I was really, really glad to see my mom again. She was thinner than before, and paler, but she looked happier then she'd been in a long time. A thought came to me- what if she didn't want me? I was a memory of Mark… would she really want to be reminded of the mistakes she'd made.

(Little did I know that the thing with my father wasn't the half of it.)

But that vanished from my head when Raven broke into a huge smile. She ran over to me and hugged me tightly.

"I missed you so much." She whispered.

The next second we were both knocked over by Rae. She glared at my mom.

"How dare you." she spat. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HER, YOU-"

Anastasia pulled her off me.

"You two, no fighting." She said, glaring at Raven and Rae.

"I'm not going to fight her!" Raven's voice trembled a little. "I don't even know who she is!"

"LIAR!" Rae yelled. "You know damn well who I am! We were friends for five years- before you became a traitorous %&*$." She spat in Raven's face.

I stood up, and saw Jacob doing the same thing out of the corner of my eye.

"You take that back." I snarled, advancing on Rae. She broke free of Anastasia and stepped back, grabbing a sword off the table behind us. Later, I started to wonder why they were there.

I drew my own swords. We watched each other for a moment, and then Rae lashed out. I made to block her, but she was faking and slashed down the side of my leg. I slashed my blade at her, but she dodged easily and kicked my sword from one hand. I gripped tightly to the other one and went towards her, but she was gone, and the next thing I knew the sword was ripped from my hand, and I was pulled over backwards, Rae's sword at my throat.

Anastasia smiled. Wasn't she going to do something? Did she _normally _let her captives fight to the death-

WHOOSH!

Rae screamed and let go of me, something like an arrow imbedded in her arm. She fell to her knees. Anastasia's smile got wider.

I looked around.

Raven was standing by the weapons table, her expression fierce. She was holding a crossbow.

"That always was your signature." Rae yanked the whatever-it's-called from her arm. "Vanessa."


	23. Mistaken Identity

"Um, you must have mistaken her for someone else." I said. "This is my mom, Raven. Also called Natalya. _I'm _Vanessa."

"No." snarled Rae. "Her name is Anastasia-"

"No, it's Vanessa!" Raven snapped.

She realized it was a mistake a split second after she'd said it, clapping her hand over her mouth.

Rae smirked. "Anastasia _Vanessa_ Winters." Her eyes narrowed. "Madame Furan's pet."

"I am not!" Raven yelled. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"You deserve to die." Rae stepped forward, raising her sword.

Raven was frozen with shock, her shoulders trembling as Rae brought her sword down.

On me, after I threw myself in front of my mother, yelling "NO!"

I landed on my back, my body on fire. I coughed weakly, struggling to sit up. Anastasia's smile had vanished.

Raven-Vanessa- whatever knelt next to me and gathered me up in her arms. She rocked me back and forth like I was a child. "Why?" she hissed at Rae. "I've already lost everything…"

"And gained what you took from me." Rae spat. Then the fire in her eyes faded, and she pulled off her jacket and pressed it to my chest. "I… sorry." she whispered.

"THAT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING!" Raven yelled.

I could tell I was slipping, everything was all out of focus and blurry. I opened my mouth to tell them to stop fighting, but nothing came out and I couldn't breathe…

###

Otto heard Laura's shriek and ran towards her, grabbing her hand. She was sitting up on her bed, her eyes full of pain.

"Oh, god, Laura is it coming?" he asked urgently, fear filling him.

To his relief, she shook her head. "N-no. It just… hurts to move."

"Really?" Otto said. He looked at Lucy, who shrugged.

"I know less about this then you do." She said.

"Good point." Otto turned back to Laura. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes." Laura leaned back down, gritting her teeth. "I- I think it might have to do with… with you and Overlord."

"Huh?" Otto said.

"I mean… you aren't normal… and Overlord must want you to have kids for a reason." Laura said. "And knowing him… it's probably not a good one. So… I dunno, somehow it's affecting me."

Otto was skeptical, but Lucy blinked and said "Yeah… that does make sense. And it also explains why it couldn't be Vanessa. I mean, she's more powerful then Laura…."

"So…. What?" Otto said.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lucy rolled her eyes. "He wanted someone expendable."


	24. Lucy is mean

"Lucy!" Otto snarled. "What did you have to go and say that for? Take that back right now!"

"It's only the truth, she's obviously not gonna make it." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Have you _seen_ how thin she is lately?"

Otto took a step towards her. "Shut up." He hissed.

"I'm just calling it as I see it." Lucy said.

Otto started to move towards her furiously, but Laura started crying. "D-don't… please…"

Otto went back to her. "What?"

"I dunno… I just want to sleep." Laura pulled the covers over her head.

Otto glared at Lucy. "Do you have to hurt every person you meet?"

"I don't lie." Lucy said quietly. "Ever. You asked and I answered. If you don't like the answer, ask a different question."

"Do you care about _anyone_?" Otto hissed.

"Nigel." Lucy said.

"What?"

"Nigel. I like Nigel."

"Nigel is completely terrified of you." Otto said.

"I know." Lucy said. "That's how I like it."

"Why are you such a control freak?" Otto grabbed her shoulder, squeezing hard.

"Because there's only one person I trust." Lucy said, yanking away from him. "And it's me."

###

"Wait." Jacob said. "You're… Raven?" I mean… you're Natalya Montov?"

Rae (from now on referred to as Natalya) nodded.

"And you're… Vanessa?" Jacob asked.

Raven (from now on referred to as Vanessa) nodded.

"And… you switched places?" Jacob said.

They both nodded.

Jacob rubbed his head.

"And I thought my life couldn't get nuttier."


	25. Rescue

"Oh, yes it can." Anastasia said. She was smiling again. "The night Vanessa Montov was born, it occurred to me I needed a spy at H.I.V.E. Then Vanessa Winters came into my possession, and I decided that she would replace the one person that Nero trusts completely. She was given surgery, and ordered to act like Natalya. A week later, we brought her to the school and took away the real Natalya. She was held captive, and escaped only recently." Anastasia paused to draw breath. "It was a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself."

"You just did." Vanessa pointed out. Anastasia ignored her.

"So… Natalya is Vanessa's mother?" Jacob asked, still not quite understanding.

"Yes." Anastasia said.

"Um, are Vanessa and I related?" Jacob asked.

"No." Anastasia said, raising an eyebrow.

"I was just checking." Jacob said, holding up his hands in submission.

"So… are we still being executed?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't know." Anastasia suddenly frowned, and touched her earpiece. "What?"

"What what?" Jacob asked.

"I have to go." Anastasia opened the door. "If any of you die, I will be _very _annoyed." She was looking at Natalya. "Got it?"

"Got it." Natalya said.

Vanessa sank to the floor. "It's late." She said.

"What?" Jacob crossed his arms. "We have the revelation of the century here, and you want to talk about-"

"Really late." Vanessa said. "I'm worried."

"What is there to be worried about?" Jacob asked. "We're just going to die anyway… didn't you say that before?"

"Shut up." Vanessa said again.

"Hey, does this mean I can call you Essy now-"

There was a crash and a scream.

"Uh… that kind of sounded like Anastasia." Natalya said.

"So? Who cares?" Vanessa said coldly.

"I care if we're under attack." Natalya said angrily.

"It's not our fight." Vanessa said.

"We still need to get out of here." Natalya stood up. An odd expression crossed her face and she smiled.

"What?" Jacob asked.

"It's Kaito." Natalya said. "He's come to save me."


	26. Cherry's secret

"_I don't want this." Furan snarled, stalking back and forth next to where she was laying. "I don't have time-"_

"_You have fifty kids in your stupid little training camp." the girl snarled. Her voice was pleading. "Why can't you take two more?"_

"_Anastasia will kill me-"_

"_Anastasia will kill you anyway." The girl begged. "_Please._"_

"_No!" Furan yelled. "For crying out loud, no!"_

Cherry blinked awake, rubbing her forehead.

_Where am I?_

"Good to see you." Overlord said. He was sitting next to her bed, his arms crossed.

There was a loud crash.

"We're under attack, by the way." He leaned over her. _"I know._"

Cherry's stomach flipped.

"When were you planning on telling me?" Overlord hissed.

"Now." Cherry invented.

He stood up. "You're a foolish girl."

"I-"

"Don't interrupt. You are a foolish girl and so I will let it slide."

"Okay." Cherry said. She was shaking.

"We are leaving now." He took her hand. She stood up. The world swirled around her, and she grabbed his shoulder.

"Let go." Overlord said coldly. Cherry obeyed.

"Are… you angry with me?"

"Of course I am." He said.

"Oh." Cherry bit her lip. "I- I'm sorry."

"Good." Overlord said. "You better be."

"I am!"

"And it won't happen again." he hissed.

Cherry flushed. "It's not my fault, you know."

"It is if I say so." Overlord said, in a tone that indicated that the conversation was over.


	27. Special

I was lying on the floor, my head resting on something soft. A woman was sitting next to me, but not my mother. Her eyes were icy blue, but kind and surrounded by laugh lines. Her hair was long and brown, and glinted red in the light.

"Who… are you?" I whispered. My whole body ached, but there was something cool on my forehead, and I felt relaxed.

"Nobody important." She said. I heard two kids running and shrieking in the background. They looked… kind of familiar, even though I had ever met them before.

"Is this a dream?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Am I going to die?"

"No." she said. "I will save you. On one condintion."

"What?" I asked.

"Don't kill Pietor and Anastasia." She said.

"What do you mean? They're evil. They'd escape from any prison we put them in-"

"You will know what to do." She said.

"I will?"

"You will." She smiled. "So much time was spent orchestrating your birth… for a reason, Vanessa. You don't know this, but you combine four impossibly powerful bloodlines."

"So… what, do I have magic powers or something?"

"You'll see." She said. "It will be obvious what you will need to do."

"Great." I said. "Any more ridiculous, nonsensical advice?"

"Otto Malpense." She said.

"What?"

"You have to trust him." She said. "No matter what he does… or who he does it with. He is just as special as you are. "

"Really?" I asked. "All he seems to be good at is ignoring things that are right in front of his nose. Like the fact that Laura and I both like him, and are about to come to blows over it."

"He knows more then he lets on." She smiled. "A bit like you actually."

She took the cloth off my forehead. "And now… I think it is time for you to wake up."


	28. We are (once again)not on a ship

Natalya was right. A few minutes later, Kaito showed up.

"Who are you?" Jacob asked quietly.

"My name is Kaito." he said calmly, putting his arm around Natalya.

"What do you want?" Vanessa snarled wearily.

"I want to take you to somewhere safe." He said.

"What if I don't want to come?" Vanessa said coolly.

"You will come." He said, his voice becoming more sing-song. For a moment, Vanessa wanted to follow him. Then she shook her head.

Kairo smiled. "So your will is strong enough to resist this, is it? It's been a long time since I met a human that strong."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty special." Vanessa said.

"But things will be better for you if you come." He said. "Your children will be safe."

"What about Max?" Jacob asked.

"He is at a different facility. But we can get him back."

Vanessa took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm coming."

###

Anastasia found Furan sitting on the floor. He looked up at the sound of her footsteps.

"We take Brand and get the heck out of here." Anastasia said calmly.

Furan ran a hand through his hair. "Captains are supposed to go down with their ships, you know."

Anastasia rolled her eyes. "I dunno if you've noticed," she said through gritted teeth"_but this isn't a ship._"

###

I woke up in Raven- Vanessa's arms. We were in some sort of Shroud thing.

"What is going on?" I mumbled.

'"You're alive!" Vanessa put her arms around me. "Thank god…"

I looked from Rae- Natalya, who sat across from us. She looked jealous, and a little hurt.

"So... you two are good now?" I asked.

"No." said Natalya. "We've established a temporary truce due to the situation."

"Ah." I said.

"_What_?" Jacob asked.


	29. Overlord is really, really mean

Otto heard Laura scream. He turned around just in time to see her fall to the ground, and a man run out of the room with something in his arms.

He jumped to his feet.

"The door!" Lucy yelled. But Otto didn't care. He held Laura tightly.

"Who did this?" he whispered.

Laura gasped. Blood soaked her clothes from the long slit up her side and pooled around her. "…get him back…" she choked.

"What? Laura! Stay with me!"

"…our son… please…" Laura coughed.

"What is going on?" Lucy asked.

"She's hurt!" Otto snarled.

"Oh, geez." Lucy ran over to them. "Laura?"

Laura smiled weakly, then gasped and went still.

"I… what?" Otto shook her shoulder. "Laura?"

"She's gone, Otto." Lucy said firmly. "We have to go."

"What?"

"Whoever it was left the door open. We have to escape while we can, because I think this place is going to be destroyed pretty soon."

"Okay." Otto said quietly, kissing Laura's forehead and letting her slide to the floor.

###

Overlord entered the helicopter and sat down next to Cherry with a bundle in one arm and a bloody knife in the other. "Go." He hissed to the pilot.

"Who- what?" Cherry asked as he shoved it into her arms. She looked down and saw a red face and blond hair streaked with blood. She touched the baby's face, then pulled off her coat and wrapped it around him. "Who is… where are the parents?"

"That's none of your business." Overlord snarled.

Cherry caught sight of the knife and covered her mouth with her hand. "You… killed them?"

Overlord slapped her across her face. "Be silent." He growled.

Cherry cradled her stinging cheek in one hand and the baby in the other. Even in her command-induced trance, she had the feeling something was horribly wrong.

**Don't worry- Laura is not actually dead. She'll be back in a few chapters…**


	30. Prisoner

Shaesta's chest heaved as she ran at the door one more time. Again, the shock delivered to her sent her sprawling. She landed hard.

_This is nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. _

She closed her eyes but once again received the same result- she couldn't teleport out of here. Something was blocking her.

"Damn." Shaesta grunted. She brushed her long hair out of her eyes. Once again, this was all Pietor's fault.

Why did she always have to fall for the bad boys?

Being captured… she couldn't stand it. She always had to be moving, otherwise she'd go nuts. And being cooped up in one place with hours for nothing to do… it was the worst, especially the anticipation of what was going to happen to her. At least she knew what it was… although that didn't make her fear any less great.

Worse, there was no one to talk to. In a few hours, she'd probably be completely stir-crazy.

She yawned and curled up on the floor. Maybe she could take a little nap…

She fell asleep quickly, but her sleep was anything but peaceful. She woke with a jerk as the came to the realization that wherever she was… it was moving. She stood up. What was going on?

She heard voices.

"I still don't understand-"

"Shut up, Otto, it's not your business to understand." a girl snapped. "I have feelings about this kind of thing.I know we're in the right place."

"An enemy ship?" Otto asked. "We'll be captured."

Shaesta could see them now, a girl Marked with a white streak and a boy, who she could sense power from.

Her own voice echoed in her ears. _I'm sorry I'm not gentle._ She pulled the scythe charm from her pocket and yelled. "HEY!"

The girl and Otto turned around and stared at her.

"Catch." She said, throwing it to the girl, who caught it.

"What's this?" Otto asked.

"If you put it in contact with the systems controlling the systems, you'll be able to override it and steer the ship." She said.

"Really?" the girl asked.

"Yep." Shaesta said. "You should probably go now."

"Thanks." Otto said as they walked out of sight.

Shaesta sighed, and sank to the ground. She had done something… but she wasn't sure what. Hopefully, it would end well for her.


	31. TOSTADAS TOSTADAS TOSTADAS!

I felt a little bit better, so I decided to do some exploring. It didn't take long for me to run into a familiar face. Two of them, actually.

"Otto! Lucy!" I hugged Lucy and backed awkwardly away from Otto like he had the plague. "Er… where's Laura?"

Otto looked down at his shoes.

"There was a baby." Lucy said quietly. "It… didn't go so well."

"What?" I said, not quite understanding. "Laura… had a baby?"

"Yes." Otto said.

Why wouldn't he look at me? The only thing I could think of that I'd done to him was the time I spat cold chocolate in his face, but that was over a year ago…

"Uh… who's baby?" I asked.

Now NEITHER OF THEM were looking at me.

"Oh my freaking tostadas." I said, and passed out.

###

Nero was definitely not expecting a call from Raven. But he was getting one. So he picked up his blackbox and said "Hello?"

"Hi." said what was unmistakably Raven. "I'm sure you have a bunch of questions, and I'll explain later, but to make a long story short because I'm running out of battery, we're on our way."

There were lots of things Nero could have said to that, like "You're alive!" or "You forgot your charger again?!" or "Why haven't I heard from you in a year?" But he chose the simplest answer.

"What?"

Raven sighed.

"Just… don't blow us up." She said, then cut the connection.

"What in the name of…" Nero muttered, when all of a sudden an image came to him of a girl with long red-brown hair standing in the snow with a scarf around her neck. She paused, then ran towards him. "Max!" she called out. But it was gone as quickly as it came.

"What in the world is going on?" Nero muttered.


	32. Surprises

"I want… I want…" I sat up. "A MUFFIN!"

Otto and Lucy both turned to stare at me.

"Er…" I rubbed my head. "What in the… why are we hiding in a closet?"

"That ginger guy showed up." Lucy hissed. "Now shut the (*$% up!"

I listened, and I could hear voices, a man's and a girls.

"This is ridiculous." the girl said. "You cannot possibly hope-"

"I have all the ingredients," He said. "or I'll be getting them shortly. All I need to do is mix them together-"

"Yeah, Anastasia thought that was how you make pancakes." The girl snapped. "Did you miss her blowing up the kitchen…?"

"I am not some teenager fooling around." He snapped.

"Well, you ain't much better." The girl sniffed.

I heard a crash. "You were born from a test tube." The man spat.

"So?" The girl seemed unperturbed. "I could have worse parents…. I feel so sorry for Zoey."

"I don't think you get it." The man snapped. "I have your Code. Soon I will have Nero's, and Furan will give me his very soon."

"You don't get it." Shaesta said.

"What don't I understand?" the man said coldly.

"_There are four._" The girl spat.

"Huh?"

"If you don't get it, I ain't explaining." I heard footsteps.

"Why you little-"

The girl shrieked.

"We have to do something." I hissed to Otto.

"No." Lucy said firmly. "_Stay here-_"  
I jumped out of the closet. "HEY!" I said.

The man jumped about a foot in the air. "What was that for?!"

"Just seeing if you were paying attention." I said, switching my annoying setting to maximum.

"And have I passed your little test?" he asked.

"Negative." I said.

"Well, well." He glared at me. "What can we do to fix that?"

"You could… try flying." I said.

"How would that help?" he asked.

"You would fall off a cliff and die." I explained.

"And what could would that do?" he asked coolly.

"Um…" I thought furiously. "it would be entertaining."

"Entertaining?"

"Entertaining."

To my surprise, he began to laugh. Then he snapped his fingers and pain flooded my body.

"That's very funny, little girl." He said. "But it wouldn't do you any good."


	33. Mark

The helicopter landed, and Cherry stepped out, followed by Overlord.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"At another base." Overlord said. "Move."

She started walking, over to a door. She went through it and they entered a building. She sat down on a bench. The baby opened his eyes at her, then started crying.

"Shut him up." Overlord hissed.

"He's hungry." Cherry said. "It's not like I can do anything about that!"

"Feed him." Overlord snarled, looking like he might hit her again.

"I can't." Cherry said. "I don't have any milk-"

"GET SOME."

Cherry started walking.

"It won't work out." Overlord said.

"What do you mean?" Cherry said, stopping.

"I'm not human. It can't work."

"How do you know? Has this even happened before?" Cherry asked.

"It's logic." Overlord snapped.

"Someone very smart once said to me 'Screw logic, let's go kill Furan.'" Cherry said.

"And what happened.

"We almost died… there was a giant thingy… yeah." Cherry shrugged. "But it sure was interesting."

###

Jacob yawned. "I need sleep now." He proclaimed.

"What, you can't just say 'I'm tired' like a normal human?" Vanessa asked. "Oh wait- you're not!"

"… you guys are in love?" Natalya said, blinking at them.

"Very, very, very deep down." Vanessa muttered

"You just keep telling yourself that." Natalya said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, come on." Vanessa smirked. "You're just jealous."

"I am not, I've got my Mark." Natalya said quietly.

Jacob and Vanessa exchanged looks.

"What was that?" Natalya snapped.

"Erm… Mark's dead." Vanessa said.

Natalya sat down very fast. "What… what happened?"

"He fell." Vanessa said quickly.

"So no one killed him, then?" Natalya asked.

"Yes… why?" Vanessa lied.

"Because if they did…" Natalya's gaze lingered on Vanessa. "I will hunt them down and make sure that they die in the most painful way I know."


	34. Autopilot

While the man was distracted, Lucy and Otto went to go and find the controls.

"What are you going to do about Vanessa?" Laura asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Dude, she passed out when you told her about Laura and the baby." Lucy said. "You need to tell her you're not interested… gently."

"The thing is, I'm not sure I _am _not interested." Otto muttered.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on."

"I'm serious." Otto said. "But can we talk about this later.

"Yeah, good point."

They reached the cockpit.

"Where do we put it? Did she say?"

"I don't think it matters." Lucy said, jamming in.

There was a beep from the systems, and then Lucy grabbed the controls. (Otto gulped, he was not inclined to repeat his Lucy-driving-a-Shroud experience. That had been… interesting, to say the least.)

"Where do you want to go?" she asked him.

Otto thought for a moment.

"I have no idea."

"Fine." said Lucy. She fiddled around for a moment. "There we go. Course set- on auto-pilot, I can't drive worth a damn-(_True_. Otto thought) and locked so that bloke can't change it."

She leaned back in the chair. "Now what?"

"We shouldn't stay here." Otto said. "They might come to see what happened. "

"Right." Lucy said. "Let's go back to our friend the closet."

###

Cherry sat calmly with the baby in her arms. He was quiet now that he had been fed, and she found she kind of liked it. Of course, she would never get her own chance, after what Overlord had said-

She tilted her head slightly to one side. She could hear something… violin music? She stood up and started to follow it.


	35. I love him not?

"You know your birth was orchestrated by the Furan's right?"

The man had me pinned by my shoulders against the wall, his eyes boring into mine.

"Yes…" I said.

"Do you know how much?"

"Er… I know they forced my parents together… is that what you mean?" I asked.

He laughed. "So you really don't get it, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You like that Otto boy?"

Confused at how the conversation was going, I nodded. What did Otto have to do with my parents?

"You don't actually have feelings for him." He said.

?!

"Um, excuse me, I think I know how I feel and don't feel, and I definitely have feelings for him." I growled. Who did this guy think he was?

"No you don't." the man said. "You were programmed to protect him before you were born."

Say what now?

"Your brain didn't understand this, so it interpreted it as love." He continued. "But really… it's completely different."

I blinked at him. "What?!"

He sighed. "Do I have to explain it again? You don't actually have romantic feelings towards that boy." He frowned. "In fact, I think they made it, so you couldn't have any at all…"

"You don't know anything!" I yelled, jerking away from him and starting to run. "I do SO love Otto!"

"You'll see." He called after me. I ignored him.

I kept running until I slammed into Vanessa.

"What's the matter?" she asked me. "Have you been crying?"

I threw my arms around her neck and just sat there with my face in her jacket.

"Okay." Vanessa said, putting her hand on my back. "You don't have to talk about it."

It was strange. Even though Natalya was my biological mother, I didn't care about her the way I did Vanessa. Maybe I just didn't know her well enough…


	36. The cat speaks

"Where's your child?"

Laura looked up. She saw a cat sitting in the doorway… had he been _talking?_

The cat came closer. "I can smell milk on you." it said, walking closer. Its mouth appeared to be moving, so she assumed it had to be the one speaking… "But you're hardly more than a kitten yourself, are you?"

_Annnnd… I am hallucinating._ Laura looked away from the talking cat and checked out where she was. The roof and two walls of the room seemed to have collapsed. Her clothes were soaked in blood, and there was a long slit up her side. But it was scabbed over, and seemed to be a few weeks old.

"Hey, are you listening?" the cat said.

"What?" Laura asked.

The cat gave a huffy sigh. "My name is Alfred Edwin Elizabeth Bartholomew Franklin John Aaron Daniel-"

"Um…." Laura said. "Do we have to do the whole thing? Time is money-"

"Everhart Quentin the fourteenth." The cat finished, annoying her. "But you can call me General Franks."

"Ah." Laura said. "Er… why can you talk?"

"That is a long story that we do not have time to tell." General Franks jumped up onto her shoulders. "Let's focus on _survival_. Are you hungry, my dear girl?"

"Yes." Laura said.

"Then I will go and find you something to eat." General Franks said. "Any preferences?"

"No waffles." Laura said. "And water would be nice too." She stood up shakily and grabbed the thin blanket off the bunk, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Be back in a few minutes." General Franks said, than disappeared off into the Glasshouse.

Laura curled up as tightly as she could, but couldn't keep herself from shivering. _Otto, please come. Or someone. Anyone! Other then, you know, a talking cat._

And she wanted her son back. He wasn't safe with Overlord. She didn't trust anyone other than herself and Otto to look after him, actually. And maybe Raven. But the last time she'd seen Raven, she hadn't seemed to be in much of a fighting condition.

"'Ere we go!" General Franks said, entering the room again. He was dragging a tray with his teeth. On it was a glass of water and a plate with a sandwich on it.

Laura picked it up.

"_Tuna fish_?" she said. "Really?"


	37. Evil people are mean

Cherry followed the music until she came to a dead end. There was no one there. Feeling foolish, she turned around to return to Overlord.

"You can beat it." said a voice.

She turned around and saw a girl standing at the end of the hall. She had red-brown hair and blue eyes, and was holding a violin. She had not been there before.

"Who are you?" Cherry said.

"A ninja." said the girl. "The more important thing is, who are you?"

"Svetlana Furan." Cherry said, shrugging. "Why?"

"Nero." the girl said quietly. "Svetlana Rubee Nero."

Cherry pressed her hands to her temples and screamed. It felt like her head was exploding. The girl smiled, then vanished.

Cherry straightened up, and her mind was clear. "What have I been doing?" she whispered.

The next thing she knew, she was slammed into the wall, someone's hand at her throat.

"I was wondering how long it would take you." Overlord snarled. "I don't care if you're knocked up, I'll kill you anyway."

Cherry gasped, her eyes pleading. But Overlord just tightened his grip…

###

"Paris?" Kaito spluttered. He was scary when he was angry. Natalya shrank back.

"That's what I said." She muttered. "As of now, we're heading for Paris, France. And I can't change it back."

"Damn. " Kaito grunted. He grabbed her shoulder. "Find a way to change it back, do you understand?!"

"I-I can't, I don't know how-"

He punched her in the stomach. "Figure. It. Out." Then he was off, striding down the hall.

Natalya recovered and headed back for cockpit. She could figure it out, if she asked for help. But she wasn't big on doing that, and she stubbornly decided to try it herself. Of course, this didn't work, because she was rubbish with computers. Kaito came back in, and when he discovered she'd failed, he was murderous.

He pulled something out of his belt, and threw it at her. Natalya didn't see what it was, but it stuck in her side and she screamed.

"Now are you motivated?" Kaito growled. "Fix it."


	38. The cookies are exploding

Natalya fell back.

"She's the one who killed your Mark." Kaito said.

"What?" she gasped.

"The girl. The one who took your place. They fought and she killed him." Kaito didn't mention that this had been an accident.

Natalya's eyes narrowed. She started for the door, but Kaito grabbed her and stopped her.

"I'm afraid I need to save you for later, Miss Wild Card." He pressed his finger to her neck, and she fell unconscious.

_She spins around, the red dress flaring out around her. It was the color of blood. She smiles. _

"_You look nice." Mark steps forward, his fingers caressing her hair. _

"_Thanks." She says. It is a pretty dress, but it is too tight for her right now. Aida Lily had told her the night before that if you look closely, she's showing. And she hasn't told Mark yet. She wanted it to be on her own terms. _

"_Nervous?" Mark asked. _

"_Not really." She says, shrugging. "We go to some party, wait for Nero's signal, then nip upstairs, plant the bomb, steal the papers and get out. Simple, really."_

"_I figured." Mark says. "Have you seen Vanessa?"_

_Natalya bites her lip. _I hate her, she's always laughing.And so strong and cute and popular. I'm so dull and slow,and no one needs me

"_You okay there?" Mark says, touching her face. "You seem…. Off."_

"_No, I'm fine." Natalya_ s_ays, shrugging._

"_Are you sure? Your father said you've been sick." Mark continues to question. _

"_It was just a bug, I'm fine now." Natalya snaps. Which is true. Her morning sickness is thankfully gone now. _

"_Just… I don't want…. I can be trusted, Natalya."_

Not with this you can't.

"_I know." She says aloud. "And I will tell you… if anything is happening…. Which it isn't." She bites her lip. _

"_Yeah… what did Nero say about that?" Mark says. "It was like 'If what I think is happening, is happening, which it is, it better not be.'" _

"_That was when we blew that thing up, right?" Natalya ask._

"_Yeah… that was soooo annoying." Mark mutters. "How was I supposed to know it was explosives- and unstable ones at that?! Jacob said it was cookie dough!"_

_Natalya rolls her eyes. "And you believed him?"_


	39. I don't know what to call this chapter

Cherry gasped. _I'm going to die here... Raven'll be so disappointed in me for giving in so easily..._  
Then she heard the music again. This time, it was louder, and then the girl appeared, holding the violin bow. She twisted the end, and a rail thin sword slid out of it.

"Catch!" the girl called. She threw the sword. It passed harmlessly through Overlord, but when it touched Cherry's fingers it solidified. Cherry hesitated for a second before she stabbed it through Overlord's middle with all her strength.

"AAARG!" Overlord yelled, falling backwards. Pressing the baby close to her, Cherry ran like she'd never ran in her life. _Anastasia's chasing you, Furan's chasing you, Raven's chasing you, and if you slow down, if you stop for a second, they'll kill you. You have to go, go , go, go…_

###

"Paris." Anastasia said.

"What?" Furan said, looking up. "Paris?"

"That's where we're going!" Anastasia yelled.

"Geez, you're in a bad mood." Furan muttered.

"I don't like you." Anastasia said, crossing her arms.

"Well, thanks." Furan muttered. "You gonna go off and live with the woodland pixies again?"

"_What_?" Anastasia askewd.

"That's what you said." Furan said. "You found out Mum was pregnant, and instead of doing something normal, you ran off and yelled 'IF YOU LOT DON'T CARE, I'LL GO OFF AND LIVE WITH THE WOODLAND PIXIES!"

"I did?" Anastasia said, wrinkling her nose. "How old was I, eight?"

"Nope. 14." Furan said with a smirk.

"Arrrggg…" Anastasia muttered. "I hate your stupid memory… I can't even remember WHY I hate you…"

"It probably had to do with Zoey." Furan said. "Anyway… why are we going to Paris?"

"Because that's where Kaito is going." Anastasia snapped.

"_Why _are we voluntarily going to follow that idiot?" Furan muttered.

"BECAUSE HE HAS VANESSA, AND NATALYA, AND THE OTHER PEOPLE WE NEED!" Anastasia yelled. "NOW STOP ARGUING WITH ME AND GET IN THE DAMN THINGY!"

"Damn thingy?" Furan muttered.

"Shut up."


	40. Trouble

Jacob, Dimitri, Toliya, Vanesssa and I all sat around in the passenger compartment waiting for something, anything to happen.

"I'm bored…" I muttered, flopping backwards into Vanessa's shoulder.

"Yeah, well. If you're not bored, it generally means that someone is attacking us." Vanessa said.

"I could attack you." Jacob offered.

"Shut up." Vanessa grunted.

…I'm sure they care for each other… very deep down…

"We have made a slight course change." Kaito said, entering. "It appears we are headed for Paris instead of H.I.V.E. I tried, but I cannot fix it until we arrive."

"Nah, it's fine." Jacob said. "There are lots of good-looking girls-"

"THAT'S IT!" Vanessa yelled, hitting Jacob very hard in the jaw.

…very, very deep down…

###

Cherry ducked into a small book shop, ducking behind the shelf to catch her breath. Had she gotten away?

The door banged open, and she found herself face to face with Overlord. Apparently not.

"Give me the baby." Overlord hissed.

"No." Cherry said firmly. She didn't know what Overlord wanted with the little boy, but was certain it wasn't good.

Overlord gritted his teeth and held out his hand to Cherry. There was a flash of light, and Cherry fell backwards. The baby fell from her arms and hit the ground hard. He woke up and started to scream, louder that before. There was a loud CRACK, and Cherry felt the hair on her head stand up. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was lying in the middle of a circle of destroyed bookshelves. The carpet around her was scorched and blackened. Overlord was also on his back, seemingly unconscious. The baby was on the floor in front of her. She picked him up.

"You sure are a lot of trouble, aren't you?" she muttered.

The baby cooed. Cherry sighed, shifted him onto her hip, and left the store.


	41. This is boring

"We need to go."

Nero looked up and saw Madelynn looking down at him. She looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few days. "What?"

"You, me, Shelby, Wing, Franz, Nigel, Gabby… we have to go." Madelynn repeated.

"Why?" Nero said.

"If you want a chance to save Raven, we need to go and find her and Vanessa." Madelynn said again.

"_Where_?" Nero asked, crossing his arms.

"Paris." Madelynn said.

"Great." Nero rubbed his nose. "Right… go and get them…"

###

We landed in a big warehouse thing. Vanessa, Jacob, Dimitri, Tolya, Kaito and I disembarked. Natalya was nowhere to be found.

"What are we waiting around for?" I asked. "I'm bored."

"I could-" Jacob offered, but Vanessa cut him off.

"We're waiting for something to happen, duh."

I scratched my head. "That… makes sense… kind of…"

"Not really." Jacob muttered.

"Shut up!" Vanessa hissed.

"Yes, that's a very good idea."

We all looked around for the source of the sound.

There came a very huffy sigh, then Anastasia dropped seemingly out of nowhere, followed by her brother.

"Why are you here?" Kaito said. His voice was calm. He stepped forward and cradled Anastasia's cheek in his hand. "Surely you've learned your lesson about trying to fight me, or do you need me to shoot you again?"

Anastasia jerked away from him. "Don't touch me!"

"I can't help it." Kaito shrugged.

"Pietor, go do something useful." Anastasia hissed. "I'll deal with this."

Furan took a step towards us, and then pause. "I'm going the right way, correct?"

"YES." Anastasia said, drawing a knife from her belt.

He grabbed Vanessa's arm but she jerked away. "Sword." She told me.

"What?" I said.

"Give me your sword." She hissed.

"Wait!" There was a crash and Otto, Lucy and a girl with white hair burst out of nowhere. "Stop!"


	42. Little Birdies

Natalya woke up. She wasn't sure what was going on. She rubbed her forehead and something came back to her. _Kill Vanessa._

She stood up and headed for the exit, but discovered that the door was locked. She frowned, and pulled a small vial from her pocket. As she did so, her fingers brushed the needle coated in its deadly poison. Somehow, it had gotten back in her pocket. She shoved it deeper inside. She could use it as a weapon, she guessed, if all else failed.

She drizzled some of the liquid from the vial onto the lock, and it melted. She pushed the door open.

_If I just kill Vanessa, everything will be all right._

It was the same thing she'd been saying for years- _if I kill Furan, everything will be all right. If I kill Nero, everything will be all right. _She wasn't sure if she still believed it- it had never actually worked, but she wasn't about to give it up.

###

"How did you get out?" Kaito said, looking at Shaesta.

"_I'm sorry I'm not gentle."_

Shaesta clenched her teeth. "A couple of little birdies helped me." She said, gesturing to Lucy and Otto.

_I can say it in my dreams._

"I resent that comment." Lucy growled, crossing her arms.  
_My thoughts are about to short-circuit._

"Shush." Shaesta said. She walked forward and out her hands on Furan's shoulders. "What are you doing?"

_I need to see you right now._

"I'm going to kill them." He said calmly.

_I'm about to cry in this moonlight._

"Don't." Shaesta said.

_I can't call you, it's already midnight._

"Why should I listen to you?" He looked back at her, smirking. "You're just a child. You don't know anything."

"I don't want to hurt you." Shaesta held out her hand and a knife made of dark metal with a curved, cruel blade appeared in it.

_But I'm naïve, so what shall I do?_

"You won't." Furan laughed. "You're blinded by your feelings."

_My heart is a kaleidoscope. _

"We'll see about that." Shaesta hissed, and then jammed the knife forward into his back.


	43. We are surprised(Doom)

Furan gasped and sank to his knees. Shaesta sat down next to him, crying silently.  
"I thought we were friends." he gasped.  
"You know that was never what I wanted." Shaesta murmured, putting her hand on his cheek.  
Anstasia looked pretty shaken up, completely frozen with something like fear in her eyes.  
"I..." Furan coughed, then fell backward onto Shaesta's lap.  
Anastasia yelled something, then rushed forward and grabbed me, pressing a gun to my head. "All of you- stop resisting or I'll kill her!"  
"Leave me alone, will you?" I grunted. "What have I done to you?"  
Vanessa walked towards me and pulled me into her. "Not again." she said. "You will not take her from me again!"  
"Nero did it the first time." Anastasia pointed out.  
"Be quiet." Vanessa said calmly.  
"You-" Anastasia fired.  
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!  
I closed my eyes, not really wanting to see Vanessa die. A few seconds later,I opened them again.  
Anastasia was lying on the floor, her chest bright red with blood. Vanessa seemed totally fine.  
I let go of her, and not really knowing why, stretched my fingers out towards Anastasia. She reached up, and our finertips brushed.  
There was a bright flash of light, then Anastasia was replaced by a ten year old girl lying on the ground with long dark hair and closed eyes. Her arms were tightly locked around a little baby with red-brown hair. Pietor had also transformed. He looked twelve now.  
Shaesta gasped. "What did you do?"  
I looked down at my hands. "I don't-" I stopped short. My hands were covered in blood.  
I turned back to Vanessa. Only now did I notice the four bright-red bullet holes going up her sweater like buttons.  
"Mum?" I said, my heart racing. "MUM!"

It took time, but Cherry eventually made her way back to the Glasshouse. Or rather, what had once been the Glasshouse. The place she had been raised in was in ruins. It was a simple matter to squeeze through what had once been the walls and cross the now-silent courtyard.  
"Hello?" she called.  
"MEEEEOW!"  
General Franks streaked out of nowhere and parked himself at her feet, mewing incessantly and jerking his head in one direction.  
"Do you want me to go that way?"  
Franks gave an affermative nod.  
"Ooookay then."" Cherry said, starting off.  
Soon, she arrived at the remains of a cell. In the middle was a girl with long red hair wrapped in a thin blanket. She had green eyes- that looked just like the baby's.  
"MMMMMMMEEEEOOOOWWWWYYYY!" General Franks yowled, shoving her forward with his head.  
"What?" The red haired girl stood up. "You are..."  
She took the baby from her and pressed him close to her. "Thank you... thank you so much."  
"Are you his mother?" Cherry asked.  
"Yes." the girl said.  
"You should know, then..." Cherry explained about what had happened in the bookstore. The girl watched with wide eyes.

"How…"

"I don't know." Cherry said with a shrug.


	44. My mom tries to kill me

Vanessa sank to the ground, a smile frozen on her face.

I looked around and saw Natalya sliding a gun back in her belt. My vision went completely red. _She_ did this?

"Don't." Vanessa whispered, seeing where I was looking. "No matter how angry you get… you will always regret it if you… if you…" She gasped.

Jacob appeared out of nowhere, grabbing her hand. "Vanessa? Vanessa?"

She did not move.

Jacob stood up and walked over to Natalya. Fear flashed across her face for a second. He held out his hand. "Give."

She handed it over, looking like she'd just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Jacob set down the two babies he was carrying, then pressed the gun to his temple.

"No-" I started, but it was too late. Jacob fired, falling backward and landing gracefully next to Vanessa's body.

Otto grabbed my wrist as I started towards Vanessa with one thought in my mind- _make her hurt._

"No." he said. "Vanessa, calm down-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I screamed, whipping around and raking my fingernails across Otto's face. He let go of me quickly, his hand flying to the cuts across his face.

"What the hell was that for?" he hissed. But I was totally oblivious to him for once in my life. I started to run towards Natalya, who smirked, crossing her arms.

"What, are you going to try to hurt me?" she said.

"Yes." I drew my sword.

She kicked it from my grasp, grabbed my arm and twisted until I heard a _crack_. I screamed.

"Rethinking that yet?" Natalya said softly, her mouth twisted into a sneer.

"Stop, you're hurting her!" Otto yelled as she punched me in the stomach.

Lucy was watching with an evil smile. "Just wait." She muttered. "This is going to be entertaining."

If you have not heard of Involuntary Reflex Number Two, it is that whenever I'm in pain, I tend to throw up on whoever is nearest. (Anastasia found this out the hard way. I don't know how many of her dresses I ruined, and I don't really care.)

Yep. Entertaining.


	45. I try to kill my mom

Ben was sitting by himself. They were on their way to Vanessa, and that made him happy. If only she would stop chasing after Otto like a sick puppy.

Why couldn't she see that he liked her? He'd followed her from his school, lost his sister and all for nothing because she liked _Otto. _Why? What did Otto have that he didn't?

"You okay?" Gabby asked.

She liked Otto too, didn't she? How is the world did he attract girls that easily?

"You look kind of freaked out." Gabby continued.

"I'm fine." Ben said quickly. He leaned over to whisper in Gabby's ear. "I don't quite understand why Nero came along, though."

"I think he likes Raven." Gabby muttered back. "He acts different around her."

"But… she's half his age!" Ben spluttered.

"Who is what?" Shelby said, appearing out of nowhere.

"I hate it when you do that." Gabby muttered "It's so annoying…"

"What are you guys talking about?" Shelby said. "Looooooove?"

"Yes, actually-" Gabby started and saw Nero coming closer. "We were talking about… how much I love my cat."

"But you said you were allergic." Shelby pointed out.

"I… I know… I love my cat anyway because he had to go away!" Gabby said.

"Riiiight." Shelby muttered.

###

Annoyingly, Natalya stepped out of the way just in time. She laughed. "You are so pathetic it's ridiculous." She kicked my legs out from under me.

As I got to my feet I growled "You know who you're acting like?" I hissed.

"Who?" she said. "Certainly not like her." She glared at Vanessa on the ground. "Waste of bullets."

SNAP.

That was when I lost control completely.

I jumped towards my mother, scratching and biting like a wildcat. She threw me off easily, but I got up again. It was hard to see with my vision swimming with red. I drew my sword and slashed out at something at moved.

I heard someone cry out, but it didn't sound like Natalya. It sounded like… a little kid. One of Vanessa and Jacob's kids?

For a moment, my vision seemed to clear but then I started to see red again.

Then I realized it was blood.


	46. A reminder

"What did you do?!" Otto yelled. He picked up my… well, I guess he's my cousin, but as far as I'm concerned, Max, Dimitri and Tolya are my annoying little brothers. I forgot how this sentence started, but anyway Otto picked up my brother and held him in my face.

"He's not really hurt." I said. I ripped off the sleeve of my jacket and wrapped it around his leg. (I still couldn't tell the twins apart at this point, but I figured out later the one I cut was Tolya. "It'll heal easy…"

"He's not even six months old yet!" Otto yelled. "You-" He yanked my sword out of my hand and jerked it down my cheek, cutting it from under my eye to my chin.

"OW!" I yelled, clapping my hand over it. "Geez, what was that for?! That could leave a scar! I don't want a scar! Then I'll look like _her_." I glared at Natalya, who glared right back. She was standing next to Kairo, who had his arm around her shoulders.

"You can't lose your temper like that!" Otto yelled. "You're Raven's daughter!"

I had never seen him so worked up.

"What does that have to do with anything?!" I spluttered.

"It's a reminder." Otto hissed.

"I'm sorry!" I hissed. "It's not like I _killed _anyone." I glared at my mother.

"She killed Mark." Natalya said calmly.

"She didn't mean to! He was her brother!"

"She works for Furan. Who knows what she would do if ordered?"

"She wasn't ordered to! It was an accident! Do you know what that is, an accident?"

Natalya glanced at Tolya. "You have no idea." She frowned. "Why did you call... that woman Mum? I'm your mother, not her."

"Maybe you are, but she's the one who raised me for the past two years." I growled. "And you don't seem to be a very good mother…"

"I never got a chance." Natalya said coldly. "You were two weeks old when _she _came."

"She didn't want to do it, you know." I said. We were standing across from each other, both of us with our arms crossed. "Just like you didn't want me."

"I want you now." Natalya narrowed her eyes. "But you don't seem to want me."

"Who would want someone like you?" I spluttered. "All you do is hurt and lie and kill."

"As much as you want to pretend otherwise…" She smirked. "You're like that too."


	47. I am very confused

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!" I spluttered. "I'm nothing like you!"

Natalya snorted.

"Er…"

I turned around. The girl Anastasia had turned into was sitting up.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what the cheese is going on?" she said.

She seemed familiar… not her voice, but what she was saying. Someone I knew… very well talked like that. But who?

"That is a really long story." I said. "What's your name?"

"Ana. Ana Furan." She stood up. "What's your name, Bright-?" She blushed. "I mean, girl."

"What do you… oh." _She makes up names for people in her head based on what they look like, and sometimes they slip out. _"I'm Vanessa."

"Oh." Ana picked up the little girl. "This is Zoe. That's Peter." She inclined her head to the boy Furan had turned into.

What the cheese was going on?

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. It was Kaito.

"Come with me." He hissed.

"No." I said. "Why does everyone want me so badly?! I'm just a kid!"

"No." Kaito said. "You are the combination of four bloodlines… and three codes-"

"FOUR!" Shaesta yelled.

"What?" Kaito said.

"Ooops." Shaesta clapped a hand over her mouth.

"The last defense." Lucy hissed. "You broke it."

"Sorry, he was driving me crazy." Shaesta said. "WHY would there be four bloodlines and THREE codes? THERE ARE FOUR!"

"But what _are _codes?!" I yelled. "Do I have them or something?! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN!?"

"All right." Kaito said, and began.


	48. Explantions are boring

"We should be going." General Franks said. Laura was sitting on the floor nursing her baby, and Cherry was watching her closely.

"It's peaceful here." Laura said, not looking up. "Can't we just stay here?"

"No." General Franks said. "You're vulnerable and so is your baby. If you stay out here you'll die of exposure."

"He needs a name." Cherry said.

"You're right." General Franks said. "What about Alfred Edwin Elizabeth Bartholomew Franklin John Aaron Daniel-"

"I dunno." Laura said. "I never got to talk about it with Otto…"

"Just make something up." Cherry said.

"-Everhart Quentin the fifteenth." General Franks finished. "Who wouldn't want to be named after me?"

"Er… what about Xander?" Laura said.

"Sounds good." Cherry stood up. "Now let's roll."

###

"I am a scientist." Kaito said. "A long time ago, I created a metal called avalon. If it is treated properly, it becomes a deadly poison."

"It can also kill us." Shaesta added.

"Us?" I asked.

"The Immortals." Shaesta shrugged. "'Cause we all have magic powers and stuff, and… it's complicated. Well, except Pietor. He just sorta tagged along."

"And basically I was going to release a large amount of it." Kaito shrugged. "But there was this woman named Svetlana Furan- very pretty- she didn't want that to happen so she sealed it away. It could only be opened using a program called infinity and the three- make that four- codes, which were given to Bartholomew Nero, Merrin Montov, Shaesta Winters and Pietor Furan, her son. It could only be activated by a descendant of at least three of those four. Which is… you."

"So you're going to use me to destroy the world." I said.

"Put like that, it doesn't sound very nice." Kaito said. "But it's true."

"But why?" Ana said. "Or are you just a megalomaniac with serious issues?"

"A), I resent that comment, b)-"

"Oh, come one." Natalya huffed. "We don't need to waste another chapter on his backstory."

"Acutally, I was going to say that Miss Furan was right." Kaito shrugged. "But if you want to hear my backstory-"

"NO!" we all shouted.


	49. Assassins

"Well, now that that's over with…" Ana yawned, squinting at Otto. "Hey, blondie. Is she your girlfriend?" She jerked her thumb at me.

"No." Otto growled.

"Her?" Thumb to Lucy.

"No." Otto sounded bored.

"Do you have one?"

"No."

"Good." Ana smirked. "Fresh meat."

"Now wait just one minute-" I spluttered.

"Natalya…" Kaito rubbed his head. I understood why he was at a loss of what to do- good and bad seemed to have blended into one big group of people all of a sudden. "Kill him."

He jerked his head at Otto.

"Him?" Natalya tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"

"Because she won't leave unless he's with her or dead." Kaito said.

"Which is not happening." Otto muttered. "I'm going nowhere with _…her._"

Trying not to show my hurt, I retorted "Yeah! And he's not dying neither!"

"That was a double negative." Lucy pointed out.

"Shut up." I growled.

"Future G.L.O.V.E-"

"Yeah, yeah, we know." I muttered. "leaders do not have bad grammar."

"Acutally, I was going to say _assassins_."

"What, are you gonna be the next Raven now that the post is open?" Otto said.  
"It is not open." Natalya growled.

"Yes it is, now shut up too." I muttered.

"No, I meant you." Lucy said.

"What what?" I said. "I'm not an assassin- I'm a normal person- who likes beating people up-" I frowned. "Okay, so maybe I'm a little assassin-y."

"Exactly." Lucy winked. "You can work for me!"

"Um…."

"Enough chatter." Natalya pulled something from her pocket… a needle? "Let's get this over with."

She dove for Otto, but I grabbed the back of her jacket.

"You stay out of this." she hissed.

"I love him." I growled, glaring at her.

Her eyes narrowed. I gulped, but didn't let go.

"Natalya_ no_." Kaito yelled. "We need-"

But Natalya did not look like she was in a position to take orders from anyone as she jammed the needle into my arm.


	50. I die

Laura stood up and started to walk.

"Who's Xander's father?" Cherry asked curiously.

"What? Oh. Otto."

"Wasn't he the blond one?" Cherry said. "I only met Vanessa's friends for a moment…"

"Yeah, the one with the white hair." Laura smiled.

"White?" General Franks said. He frowned. "You had better marry someone else."

"And why on Earth would that be?!" Laura growled, clenching her fist.

"For the sake of your future children." General Franks said dramatically. "THEY COULD HAVE PINK HAIR!"

Laura rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's physically impossible, G.F. Now hurry up."

###

I fell over. It felt like my insides had turned to liquid fire, and it HURT. Someone grabbed me before I could hit the floor… and I realized it was Otto. He sat down and leaned me against him.

Nataya froze, panting. Then she wrapped her arms around herself and screamed "NO!"

"You foolish-" Kaito flew at her, drawing a knife from her. I didn't want to watch her die, so I turned to Otto.

"Geez, you really are stupid, aren't you?" he said, laughing. "I can take care of myself, Vanessa."

"I can't help it." I whispered. It was hard to talk. "I love you."

"I don't." He brushed hair off my cheek. "At first, I thought I did… but I only want to be friends, Vanessa. Good friends… but not anything else."

"I know now." I leaned my head against his chest.

"Why do you say that stuff?" Otto asked curiously.

"What… stuff?" I asked.

"The crazy stuff." Otto said. "You never take anything seriously… you say the weirdest things at the weirdest times… why?"

"Because if I don't…" I whispered. "Nobody listens…"

I closed my eyes and let myself go.

**And… I'm pretty sure Vanessa is not dead. Not sure how she survived that… but she's pretty amazing. **


	51. Reunited

Natalya dodged Kaito's feeble blows halfheartedly. She could have easily defeated him, or killed him. But she didn't want to. It was still sinking in what she had done- she had killed her own daughter.

_How could I do that?_

"Freeze." Kaito hissed. She felt her arms and legs seize up, refusing to move. He advanced on her. _It's okay if I die. I don't mind- really-_

FWWWSH!

A blur streaked past her, knocking Kaito to the ground and knocking him out, as far as she could tell. She could move again. She looked around and saw a boy, the same age as Otto, Asian with a long dark ponytail.

"Raven." He said.

"I don't really use that name anymore." _ I don't want it. I never did._

"Really?" He regarded her like she was mildly interesting.

"Yes." She said firmly. Then she fell backwards, as all the strength left her body. She hit the ground hard, and no one moved to help her. She watched as others appeared- Nero (he looked so much _older_ then when she had last seen him) a blond girl, another blond girl who went straight for Otto, a girl with snow white hair who stood off to the side awkwardly-

"Madelynn Lord." She muttered. Her eyes narrowed. _Why was she here? _

Madelynn saw her. She took a quick breath, then her eyes darted away, her expression carefully nonchalant. _I know who you are._ She thought. _I could expose you… if I wanted to. _

_But it's always more interesting to see how things play out for themselves._

###

They made their way back to H.I.V.E., and Otto buried Vanessa on the beach beyond the secret door. He returned to school, as did Shaesta, Ana, Peter and the others. But it wasn't the same.

Kaito remained their prisoner. They would have executed him, except for the unfortunate fact that he appeared to be unkillable. Natalya was also locked up- in a comfortable dormitory room, but kept prisoner all the same. Dimitri, Zoe and Tolya were sort of adopted by all of them, switching rooms every few days. The arrangement worked out well- except for when Ana, who was the worst baby sitter, left them near an open weapons locker. The bathroom on that floor will never be the same again.

But the best thing that happened was two weeks after they returned. Otto was in the library, looking something up- he didn't remember and he didn't care either, when Madelynn came rushing in. She seemed to idolize him, for reasons he could not understand.

"Otto!" she yelled. "You gotta- you gotta-"

"What?"

"Come and see!"

She dragged him through the hallways until finally they were outside of Nero's office. He could hear a baby crying.

"Sorry." said a voice from inside. "Give me a moment…"

The door to the office opened.

"LAURA!" Otto yelled.


	52. Epilougue

_**Epilogue**_

_Nero smiled as he heard Otto cry out. So did Cherry._

"_So… you are my daughter." He said, turning to face her._

"_Yep." Cherry said. _

"_Don't forget about me!' General Franks yelled. "I'm a freaking talking cat, but does anyone ever pay attention to me?! No!"_

_Cherry pulled off Lucy's locket, and the cat's chatter changed into mewing. "This thing is dangerous." She muttered. _

"_Yes." Nero said. "It may have saved Miss Brand's life, but it could damn it as well. I suggest we put it back in Miss Presscott's hands."_

"_Er… is she the one with the skunk hair and the Napoleon complex?" Cherry said. _

"_That sounds like her." Nero shrugged. "I think it would be best if you did it now."_

_Cherry slid the locket into her pocket but made no move to stand up. "You should know." She rubbed her forehead. "I'm going to have Overlord's child."_

"_Anything else?" Nero said. _

"_You aren't… angry with me?" Cherry asked. _

"_No." Nero said. "You cannot control it when you fall in love… or who with." Merrin flashed through his head. She looked happy, her arm slung around Bartholomew's shoulders. _

"_Well…as long as that's alight." Cherry stood up and left the room. She paused. "Oh… and if Laura and Otto are together now…"_

"_What? Oh… er, yes. I suppose." Nero rubbed his head. _

"_I would brace yourself." Cherry said. _

"_For what?" Nero said. _

"_For a hoard of little Malpenses." Cherry said. _

"_Oh." Nero rubbed his forehead. "Crap."_

_###_

_The girl woke up. She was in a glass room, bathed in light, strapped to a metal table that was cool against her skin. She wracked her brains but could only remember four words- lovely, fear, wisdom, death. _

"_Hello?" she called, straining against the metal straps. No one appeared. She craned her head to look around, and noticed- she had wings, raven-black and twisted awkwardly because of the straps. She gasped. She couldn't remember who she was, but she was certain _this _was new. The wings flickered, then vanished altogether. _

"_What the heck?" the girl muttered. _

"_Good to see you awake." A man entered the room. He had spikey white hair and cool blue eyes. All of the sudden, a face flashed through her head, a boy with the same features. _

"_What's my name?" the girl asked. _

_The man hesitated a moment before answering. _

"_Blu." _


End file.
